Technology of the Future (The Creation of the Computer Moron)

(Above you see the old though famous poet, Lord Byron, a true Luddite, meaning one of the orignal protesters of technology in our so-called modern age.)

The futurists and journalist hacks, large companies, (corporations) are telling us that technology is developing at an alarming rate. This is an absolute truth. The lecture I reluctantly attended today was essentially: “How will teachers’ deal with this change and, more importantly keep up, in order to teach effectively?

The obvious responses were, training, alot of training, etc, etc.

Sorry, what a load of rubbish!

As a teacher only a few years ago, we did not have to deal with cell phones and i-pods as distractions to learning in the class room. Neverthless, it has become a major obstacle to teaching and learning. Text messaging, headphones while teaching; to be fair, a teenagers “life” revolves around friends and their “groups”, it has always been that way and, well, always will. They simply have better ways of communicating.

Developing technology is not the problem. As educated professionals, as teachers, it is an absurdity to believe that we will be left behind because of technology advancing at lightning speed.

Technology is a TOOL to learning. It enables students to find the information much faster and easier.

It is possible that books, hard covers and paper, will become something from the past. Libraries in certain countries no longer have books but only row after row of computers; students “googling” for the answer to their research questions.

Sad thought but a possible future reality for us all.

This subject is not about teachers falling behind with advancing technology, but our students missing out on the fundemental tools that take time to learn, but once learned, will carry them through for the rest of their lives.

Example: John is an absolute wizard on the computer, but cannot write a full sentence; his spelling is flawed (Year 11 but Year 5, spelling wise) and he becomes very impatient when asked to find an answer in an actual book...too hard.

“Just tell me the answer Mr. Middleton, this is way too hard.”

However with tools like spell checks and Google, he can skate through, APPEARING as if he has learned something, though has not learned anything.

Technology has its good points, but has created, in some cases, technology dependent morons.

Basics are so important: spelling, punctuation, the knowledge of verbs, nouns, pro nouns, and even, conjuctions.

I am fascinated with the advancement of technology in all areas, particularly, medicine.

Although wonderful, all things on this planet has its negatives, and focusing the teacher on “advancing technology” when she is working with a class of 25, teaching verbs and nouns, when most eight year olds prefer to “google it” has lost someting.

Because machines will never replace a true, dedicated, caring teacher...the connection of a thoughtful human being, real learning will never occur.